VOORHEES, N.J. — It was on the road that Steve Mason experienced a couple of rare low points this season.

It’s been on the road that the Flyers have done enough little things wrong to keep them from taking a real step from recovering team to contending team as this season’s midpoint looms.

It’s on an impending road trip, beginning Saturday night in Edmonton, that the Flyers hope they finally turn a corner in a season they feel still offers playoff promise.

They will get a bit of a break in that the Oilers were scheduled to play archrival Calgary Friday night, which earlier in the day put a hint of speculation around this game’s most pressing issue...

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Would Ilya Bryzgalov be in net against his old Flyers team Saturday night?

Would the Canadian sports network big-wigs even allow the answer to be no?

“I’m sure he’ll play,” Scott Hartnell said after a morning practice Friday at the Skate Zone. “It’s better for you guys; a better story for Hockey Night in Canada. It’ll give everyone something to talk about. But the main thing for us is getting two points (and) making sure this is a great road trip. It starts with the first one.”

For the record, Bryzgalov was preliminarily scheduled to be in net against the Flyers. But things don’t always happen according to schedule.

The last time the Flyers faced a trip such as this, it was difficult six-game road trip just after Thanksgiving. One they began with a confidence boosting win in Nashville, but would end with crushing defeats in Dallas, Ottawa and Chicago. It wasn’t just a coincidence that Mason’s worst stretch of what has been a terrific season came at that time. He allowed three goals in a big comeback win in Detroit, then gave up four goals in just two periods of work against the Stars, and another four in what became a shootout loss againt the Senators. Several days later, he allowed another four goals in a come-from-ahead shootout loss in Washington and two games later gave up four goals against his old Columbus Blue Jackets team at home.

Mason seemed to right himself again in a 4-1 win over Minnesota Monday, but just like his teammates he might feel there’s something to prove again on this road trip.

“Another long trip, another important one,” Mason said. “We have to make sure that we’re consistent along the way. The last one we were on for a significant amount of time we started off pretty well but then we tailed off towards the end. It’s a tough grind with all the travel. We have to make sure we’re finding ways of winning hockey games that are tough to play in.”

This six-game, post-Christmas swing will take them to Canada’s left coast, through Denver and Phoenix and finally back to New Jersey for a game in Newark Jan. 7. It may be a long one, but if anything it doesn’t feature as many difficult opponents as the last road trip did.

Of course, the Flyers know there are no guarantees on the road, especially since that’s exactly where they’ve struggled lately. Since their 1-7 start, the Flyers have gone 16-9-4 ... and that’s despite going 2-6-2 in their last 10 games on the road.

“We had a lot of home games (early in the season), had a poor start, but got back to where we wanted to be,” Hartnell said. “If we let that slide on this road trip, we’ll be scratching ourselves come April and wonder, ‘What did we do wrong?’

“You could look back at this road trip and say, ‘That the TSN Turning Point.’ So we have to focus and get prepared and do the right things off the ice; get ready to play hard and get some points.”

“On the road, we have to make sure we do the little things and play a simple game,” Braydon Coburn added. “We have to make sure we really stick to our plan, and no matter what happens really try to hammer out those close games.”

It wasn’t certain as of Friday that the Oilers would put their usual starting goalie on the ice as scheduled against his old team on the second night of back-to-back games. But wouldn’t it be that much more of an entertaining challenge if Bryzgalov was there against the Flyers?

“If he gets to play against us it’ll be a little funny, I guess,” Claude Giroux said. “It’s Bryz, so it’ll be a fun game, for sure. He’s a smart goalie. Maybe a little bit too smart sometimes. But he’s a good goalie.”

Mason, who is 14-9-4 with a 2.35 goals-against average and .923 saves percentage, talked about some of the emotions Bryzgalov might feel, even if the Bryz was calling it “just another game” Friday.

“Once you’re out there and you see familiar faces coming down at you, you try to think of their tendencies,” Mason said. “I think you have to try and stay away from that. But I’m sure Bryz, if he’s playing tomorrow, wants to have a good game.”

NOTES: According to Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren, fourth-line forward Adam Hall has been “under the weather for a few days.” That’s why he missed practice Friday, though he’s scheduled to be on the trip. Also coming along is Steve Downie, who seems recovered from his upper body injury. With Erik Gustafsson (knee sprain) on IR, the Flyers don’t need to make a roster move to insert Downie. “I think I made strides today, so we’ll see tomorrow,” Downie said. ... Coach Craig Berube praised the recent work of the second line of Braydon Schenn between Hartnell and Wayne Simmonds, and says he likes Vinny Lecavalier working on the right wing of the third line. That would likely leave Downie to play in Hall’s spot on the fourth line if he’s able to go.